


The First Of Two

by Leni



Series: Alternate Realities (Buffyverse) [7]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-01
Updated: 2014-10-01
Packaged: 2018-02-19 11:03:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2386022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leni/pseuds/Leni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where Faith is Called first...</p>
<p>"Going on patrol with another Slayer was not the hassle Faith had expected. It wasn't <i>fun</i>, since she and Buffy didn't have much in common beside the ability to aim a stake and a knack for surviving nasty master vampires, but it wasn't a complete drag either."</p>
            </blockquote>





	The First Of Two

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Evil_Little_Dog](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_Little_Dog/gifts).



> Written for Evil Little Dog at [Comment Fic.](http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/561192.html?thread=79057960#t79057960) Prompt: **Faith is Called before Buffy**.

Going on patrol with another Slayer was not the hassle Faith had expected. It wasn't _fun_ , since she and Buffy didn't have much in common beside the ability to aim a stake and a knack for surviving nasty master vampires, but it wasn't a complete drag either.

"So this slaying-together thing our Watchers set up - not that bad, eh?" Buffy said, nudging her on the side.

Faith blanked her expression. "You're a mind reader now?"

Buffy shrugged. "You were smiling just a second ago. I don't think I've seen you smile around me before." She said that easily, as if Faith's attitude wasn't a big matter to her. Perhaps it wasn't. Between the friends she'd made at high school and the two-man entourage she'd brought over from Los Angeles, Buffy had enough positive feedback in her life. But the blonde kept talking, and now she sounded amused. "It wasn't hard to guess you hated it when I came here. The scowls gave you up - oh, and that big bruise from the first time we sparred together." She rubbed her hip and gave Faith an arched look. "Dead giveaway."

Okay, so she had been a bitch to the girl. 

But it had been a huge letdown to know that she'd been demoted from the Chosen One to the First of Two. And it had happened because _she'd been dead_. No. Faith hadn't been in the best state of mind to welcome her fellow Slayer.

"Well. You grew on me, Little B."

Buffy chuckled, having long given up on getting Faith to drop the nickname. " _And_ I saved your life."

The memory of that morning still set Faith's teeth on edge. It had been a good plan: sneak into the warehouse during the daylight hours, so the vampires would be trapped inside. It hadn't been the first time she razed a nest using that method, and she hadn't expected more trouble than a quick, invigorating fight, followed by an even quicker stop at Rupert's place to patch herself up while her Watcher lectured her, and then raid his liquor stash while he pressed for her to take painkillers instead.

She hadn't counted on being cornered by a dark-haired vampiress with a gift for hypnotizing her victims. If she hadn't been killed once already, the hours she'd spent under Drusilla's thrall would count as the worst of her life. 

Not that she'd ever admit it out loud. 

In fact, Faith would have loved to deny that she'd been in trouble at all. To be rescued by a school girl had added insult to her injuries - or so it'd looked at the time. "Believe me. That wasn't it," she told Buffy now.

If she'd expected her to be shocked by the lack of gratitude, Faith would have been disappointed. Buffy just glanced at her sideways and shrugged one shoulder. "So what was it?"

_You didn't get in my way, after all_ , Faith thought. "Does it matter?"

Buffy considered that. "Guess not," she admitted. "I'm just... curious. Whatever it was, I don't want to undo it. I mean, I _really_ don't want to go back to not talking to each other. That was stupid."

Faith kept quiet. It hadn't been all her fault. If she hadn't been eager to meet the new Slayer, Buffy certainly had clung to her old life until she had no option left. Even Rupert had stopped complaining that he must have the most headstrong Slayer in history, and she'd caught him giving Merrick a sympathetic glance when the older Watcher tried to reason with Buffy. Watching the blond slip stand up to the man supposed to be in charge of her life was the funnest. thing. ever. Damned inspirational, really. "You're all right, Little B," she told Buffy sincerely, then she put her arm around the girl's shoulder and dropped her voice mock-warningly. "Just don't do the cheerleading thing again. The pompoms, the tiny skirt..." She shuddered. "Deal-breakers."

Buffy laughed. "If you thought I was a ditz then, you should have seen me in Los Angeles."

"Oh, Angel's told me some about it."

Buffy perked up, as she always did at any mention of her new boyfriend. "He did?"

"He mentioned the hair, the shoes, the _pink_." Not that much had changed on any of those ends, Faith thought. Buffy did wear tennis shoes and comfy clothes when they went on patrol, but Faith had seen the girl at the end of her school day and she dressed as if later that night she'd be walking down the runway instead of hunting for the undead. Of course, one undead in particular enjoyed the cute outfits. "He seemed particularly stuck on your licking on a lollipop." She waggled her eyebrows. "Please say it's a metaphor?"

Buffy blushed bright red. "W-what? No!"

Well, that explained why so many demons were being killed late at night, long after she and Buffy (day-walkers after all) had headed for bed. The poor guy must need an outlet.

"If you need a tip..." she offered, just to make the other girl blush brighter.

Instead Buffy's expression became guarded and she peered up at her with a frown. "No... thanks."

Faith had dealt with enough jealous girlfriends to recognize that tone. She could take offense and start a scene. Tell Buffy that if her man strayed, it wouldn't be because Faith had invited him over, but because he'd seen something in her that Buffy didn't have or wouldn't offer. It was a familiar speech, delivered to several ticked off girls right before Faith walked out with their boyfriends.

But, unlike all those guys, she did like Angel. Not only because he'd saved her neck on occasion, but because he'd let her down gently that one time... 

Okay. As bad decisions went, that one actually managed to make her feel guilty. But at that moment she'd been too tipsy to care, and Angel had looked so cute and he'd _known_ what she was and still liked her, and Buffy had been the (luckiest) silliest girl who wouldn't leave the Hellmouth while she had the chance. After that night, Angel had never mentioned that scene, never hinted that she'd draped herself all over him or that she'd pulled him into a kiss that never landed (vampires may not be stronger than a Slayer, but he knew enough of her tricks that he'd taken her by surprise), and he still treated her as a friend.

Faith didn't want to make trouble for him.

"Peace," she told Buffy, lifting her hands in the air. "Just so we're clear, I prefer my guys with a heartbeat - and no soul." She winked and let her hands back down. "Makes it easier to leave them at dawn."

Buffy's eyes widened at that bit of information, but her body relaxed and soon she was shaking her head in amusement. "You make yourself sound so bad."

Funny. That was what Rupert said, too.

"Maybe I am."

Buffy looked at her for a long moment, and then seemed to make a decision. "You know when I started liking you?"

That was easy. "When I helped you recover Angel."

It had been the first time they'd worked together. They hadn't managed to stake either Spike or Drusilla - and oh, she'd tried to get even with that bitch! - but at least they'd interrupted the ritual before it got off the ground. That had been the night when Faith had realized that Buffy wasn't as useless as all that, and that a second Slayer might not be a complete waste of power. The two of them had been _amazing_ together, with Buffy truly putting herself into the fight, and Faith would have been a fool not to see the potential.

She hadn't been the only one. She still suspected that Rupert and Merrick had met afterward for a celebratory drink - or twelve, if her Watcher's pale face the next morning had been a clue.

"No," Buffy said, interrupting her thoughts.

Faith blinked. "No?"

Buffy shook her head. "It was before that, actually. When you offered to stake Ford for me."

Faith did remember saying something to that purpose, but... "Wasn't I yelling at you when I said that?"

A grimace stole over the other girl's expression. "Oh, yes. You were awful. But I sort of deserved it and... it was nice, that you offered. I think that's when I realized you and I are stuck together. That we've both been sucked into sticking a stake into our friends' chests if that's what makes the world safer." Both of them fell silent at that, because it was true. Nobody else had that duty. Then Buffy straightened her shoulders and smiled up at her. "But above all, I realized that you've been doing this for a longer time, and... and I think you were trying to spare me from catching up too soon." She glanced at Faith hopefully. "Sort of. Deep down?"

Faith had been making sure that someone did the job right, since she hadn't trusted the soft-hearted blonde to do what was necessary. She didn't tell Buffy that. though. And, maybe, deep down... who knew?

"You may be the one who came back from the dead," Buffy continued when Faith didn't say anything, "but I'm the lucky one. I'm the first Slayer to have someone to look up to. Isn't that cool?"

Faith gave into the grin that tugged at her lips.

Because it _was_ cool to be that someone.

 

The End  
30/09/14


End file.
